Apparatus for bending and cutting steel rules and other metal bars.



J. A. RIGHARDS. APPARATUS FOR. BENDING AND CUTTING STEEL RULES AND OTHERMETAL BARS. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 10, 1912.

1,058,003. V Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

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J. A. RICHARDS.

APPARATUS FOR BENDING AND CUTTING STEEL RULES AND OTHER METAL BARS.APPLIOA TION FILED JULY 10, 1912. 1,058,003.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WI, ll/ 1 WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN ARTHUR RICHARDS, OF ALBION, MICHIGAN.

APPARATUS FOR BENDING AND CUTTING'STEEL RULES AND OTHER METAL BARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 10, 1912.

Patented Apr. 1, 1913.

Serial No. 708,576.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN ,A. RICHARDS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Albion, in the county of Calhoun and State ofMichigan, have invented an Improved Apparatus for Bending and CuttingSteel Rules and other Metal Bars, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention is in certain features an improvement upon the rule-bendingapparatus for which I have received Letters Patent No. 998,394, datedJuly 18, 1911.

In the present invention, I have combined improved means for bending,shaping, and cutting rules and other bars, whereby important advantagesare attained.

The details of construction, arrangement, and operation of parts are ashereinafter described, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich Figure 1 is a side view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan view.Fig. 3 is a perspectlve view of devices employed for cutting or shearingrules orbars. Fig. 4: is a longitudinal section of the apparatus. Fig. 5is a cross section on the line 55 of Fig. at. Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of shaping or crimping dies and a die holder. Fig. 7 is aperspective view of the slidable rule former or shaper. Fig. 8 is aperspective view of the slidable bar or head adapted for attach-- mentof a rule gripping head or cutter or die shaper.

Referring in the first instance to Figs. 1 and 4, from a base frame 1rises a hollow vertical post 2 in whose top portion is set a pin 3,which may have different forms to adapt it for difierent functions, aswill be hereinafter explained. Upon the post 2 is mounted a sleeve 4,the same being constructed with spiral, parallel, circumferentialflanges 5, the space between them thus forming practically a cam groove6, the function of which will be presently explained. The sleeve 4 isprovided with a laterally projecting arm 7 having its outer end formedas a handle and serving as a lever for rotating the sleeve. Upon thislever 7 is mounted slidably a device which serves as a former or shaper8 for rules and other strips or bars, the head of the same beingtriangular and adapted to coact with a pin set centrally in the post 2.The function of the lever 7 and the former 8 is practically the same asin the apparatus covered by my aforesaid patent; that is to say, it

coacts with the pin around which it may be swept, for bending andshaping rules. The former 8 is adapted to slide on the lever 7, the twobeing connected by tenon and groove, as will be understood by referenceto Fig. 5.

To clamp the former 8 in any required adjustment, I provide a ring 9seeFig. 5 which is held in a transverse groove formed in the upper side ofthe shank or body of the former 8. A portion of such groove iseccentric, it being highest at the middle and cut away on each side,thus forming cavities or spaces 10. A handle '11 is screwed into thering and its inner end projects sufficiently to adapt it for frictionalcontact with the highest point of the adjacent cam. In other words, theinner end of the handle 11,

when resting in the cavity or space 10 on either side of the cam, ispractically out of contact with the latter, so that the former 8 may beadjusted freely lengthwise of the lever 7, but when the former has beenset in the required position relative to the pin 3, by pulling the leverin the direction of the arrow, its inner end engages the cam and thuslocks the ring, so that the head is held immovable. In other words, whenthe handle comes in contact with the highest portion 'of the cam, thefriction between the ring and the body of the lever 7 is sufiicient tohold the former 8 from sliding. It will be seen that when the handle 11is in the position indicated by full lines in Fig. 5, the former 8 beingleft perfectly free, it may be quickly adjusted toward or from the pin3, as required, and may be instantaneously clamped to the position inwhich it is adjusted by simply moving the handle as already described.By this combination of parts, I am enabled to adjust and lock the formermuch more quickly than by the means described in my aforesaid patent. Anut 12 is applied to the threaded portion of the handle 11 and servespractically as a jam nut for securing the handle in any requiredadjustment; or in other words, it serves to lock the handle with itsinner end projecting as may be required to adapt it to engage theadjacent cam.

A gage rod 13-see Figs. 1 and 2is secured in a rotatable post 14, as inmy patented apparatus before referred to, and its free pendent end isprovided with grooves to receive the end of a rule or other bar which isto be bent. In that respect, therefore, it is adapted to perform thesame function as before; but in this instance it performs an additionalfunction, that is to say, it can be set to act as a stop for the former8. To this end, the latter is provided on either side with notches 15with which the pendent head of the gage rod is adapted to engage whenthe former or shaper is swung against it, as shown by dotted lines inFig. 2. Thus the gage rod serves to stop the former and the lever 7 towhich the same is applied whenever it reaches a certain position, whichis often of advantage in bending a series of rules or other material, toa uniform shape.

The base 1 of the frame has a vertical slotted extension l whose outerend terminates in an abutment or upward projection 1" and upon thelatter and the post 2 is supported a grooved and slotted bar 16-seeFigs. 1 and 4. Upon the upper side of this bar a tool carrier 17 ismounted slidably (shown detached in Fig. 8), and it is provided with thesame construction and combination of means for clamping it as in thecase of the former or shaper 8 already described; that is to say, a ring9 having a handle 11 is applied to the parts 16 and 17 in the samemanner as the ring 9 and handle 11 before described. Thus the toolcarrier 17 may be adjusted and locked with the same facility as theformer or shaper 8.

The outer end of the tool carrier 17 is provided with a slot whichreceives the upper end of an elbow lever 18 and these parts aredetachably connected by means of a pin 19 see Fig. The lever 18 ispivoted at 20 in the slotted portion 1 of the frame and the end of itshorizontal arm is provided with an antifriction roller 21 which isadapted to work in the spiral groove 6 of the sleeve 4:.

It will now be apparent that when the lever 7 is moved to the right orleft, the sleeve at being rotated correspondingly, the lever 18 will beshifted on its pivot and the tool carrier 17 will he slid toward or fromthe pin or other device that may be set in the center of the post 2. Onthe other hand, by detaching the pin 19, the tool carrier is disconnected from the cam lever 18 and the tool carrier is thus left freefor manual adjustment uninfluenced by the rotation of the cam sleeve 4.WVhen thus disconnected from the latter, the tool carrier may be used asa gripper in the same way as the gripper described in my aforesaidpatent. In other words, by providing the inner end of the tool carrierwith a proper head or tool, and advancing it against the pin set in thepost, a rule or other metal strip may be gripped or clamped against thepin and then the former 8 may be operated for shaping the rule or striparound the pin, as described in said patent; but, when the tool carrieris connected with the cam lever, the operation,

that is to say, by swinging the lever 7 laterally to the left, asindicated by arrow in Fig. 2, the tool carrier 17 is advanced toward thepin or die that may be set in the post.

The inner end of the tool carrier 1'? is provided with a verticaldove-tailed groove 17 see Fig. 8which groove is adapted to receive acorrespondingly shaped end or butt of a block 22 that serves as a toolholder proper, as shown in Figs. 2 and In this instance the tool 23 is acutter and it is adapted to coact with a grooved pin 3 having an enlarged base 3 adapted to be set in the post. When the tool carrier 17 isadvanced from the position indicated in Fig. 2 by the action of thelevers and cam sleeve, as before described, it is apparent that thecutter 2 will coact with grooved pin 3 in such manner as to shear offrules or other thin strips that may be inserted between them.

In order to prevent lateral bending of the cutter and insure its properaction on the rule or other material, I provide an abut-- ment 21 which.is located adjacent to the pin 3 and provided with set-screws 25 withwhich the cutter 23 works in frictional contact. These parts areillust'ated in Fig. 3 se )arately from the other portions of themachine.

In Fig. 5, 1 illustrate devices which may be employed in connection withthe tool carrier 17 for crimping or shaping rules or other strips. inthis instance, a pin 26 is provided with a dove-tailed groove 26 in itsupper portion, the same being adapted to receive the corresponding tenon27 of a die 28 whose free end is provided with a vertical' grooveadapted to form a crimp. An entering die 29 having its free edge beveledcorresponding to the groove of the die 28 is adapted for detachableconnection with the tool carrier 17. Thus by providing the tool carrier17 with different attachments in the nature of dies, various crimps orshapes may be imparted to thin metal bars or strips.

lVhat I claim is 1. In an apparatus for the purpose specitied, thecombination with a horizontal support and a tool which is slidablefreely thereon and adapted for acting upon a rule or other material andhaving an eccentric portion, of a rotatable ring applied to such portion and having an interior projection adapted to engage the eccentricwhen the ring is rotated, thus clamping the latter and the tool, asdescribed.

2. In an apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination with ahorizontal sup port and a tool which is slidable freely thereon andadapted to act upon a rule or other material and constructed with agroove having an eccentric portion, of a rotatable ring applied in saidgroove and provided one of the shoulders of the with a radial handlewhose .inner end is adapted to engage the eccentric for locking the ringand the tool to the support in the manner described.

3. In an apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination with ahorizontal support and a tool which is slidable thereon longitudinallyand provided with a groove having an eccentric portion, of a ringrotatable in said groove, a handle having a screw-threaded shank passingthrough the ring and adapted to engage the eccentric when adjustedradially, and a nut applied to the shank of the handle and serving toclamp the same in any required adjustment, as described.

4. In an apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination with abase having a pivot post and a pin set vertically therein, of a toolcarrying lever pivoted on said post, a horizontal support arrangedpractically opposite said lever, a tool carrier mounted slidably on saidsupport, and means intervening said lever and tool carrier andoperatively connecting them, whereby when the lever is operated, thetool is reciprocated with reference to the pin, as described.

5. In an apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination with abase frame having a vertical pivot post, of a cam sleeve mountedrotatably thereon and provided with a lateral lever for operating it, ahorizontal support arranged on the frame, a tool carrier which isslidable on said support, and an elbow lever pivotally connected withthe tool carrier and adapted to be operated by the cam sleeve when thelever is swung in either direction, as described.

6. An improved apparatus for the purpose specified, comprising a baseframe having a vertical pivot post, a cam sleeve mounted rotatablythereon and provided with a lateral lever for operating it, a horizontalsupport arranged on the frame, a tool carrier which is slidable on saidsupport, an elbow lever pivotally connected with the tool carrier andadapted to be operated by the cam sleeve when the lever is swung ineither direction, and means for de tachable connection between said toolcarrier and lever, as described.

7. An apparatus for the purpose specified, comprising a base framehaving a vertical pivot post, a cam sleeve mounted thereon and providedwith a lateral arm serving as a lever, a horizontal support and a toolcarrier adapted to slide thereon longitudinally, a cam lever whichoperatively connects such tool carrier with the cam sleeve, a ,tooladapted for detachable connection with the end of the tool carrier, apin set vertically in the post, and a die adapted for detachableconnection therewith and for coaction with the tool connected with thetool carrier, as described.

8. The improved apparatus for the purpose specified, comprising a baseframe having a vertical pivot post, a cam sleeve mounted rotatablythereon and provided with a lateral arm serving as a lever, a horizontalsupport and a tool carrier adapted to slide longitudinally thereon, apivoted lever which operatively connect-s such tool carrier with the camsleeve so that the tool carrier is reciprocated as the sleeve isrotated, a cutter adapted for connection with the tool carrier, and apin set in .the post and having an angular edge with which the saidcutter coacts, as described.

9. The improved apparatus for the purpose specified, comprising a baseframe having a vertical pivot post, a cam sleeve mounted rotatablythereon and provided with a lateral arm serving as a lever, a horizontalsupport and a tool carrier adapted to slide longitudinally thereon, apivoted lever which operatively connects such tool carrier with the camsleeve so that the tool carrier is reciprocated as the sleeve isrotated, a cutter adapted for connection with the tool carrier, a pinset in the post and having an angular edge with which the said cuttercoacts, and a lateral abutment provided with set-screws for supportingthe cutter in its operation on rules or other material, as clescribed.

10. In an apparatus for the purpose specified, the combination with aframe having a pivot post and a lever extended laterally and adapted torotate around said post, of a ruleshaping device applied to said leverand provided with lateral notches, a pin set ver-- tically in the post,and a stop-rod supported on the frame and adapted to engage the notchesof the shaping device, as described.

JOHN ARTHUR RICHARDS.

Witnesses:

MARK H. FALL, ARTHUR C. HUDNUTT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G.

